The Recruit

Don't know whether or not I've reveiewed this before. Don't think so. It's the first Cherub book. I've decided to reread them all in proper order. Although it may be a bit slow, given I need to revise and do some work on my distance learning course which I was supposed to finish by Christmas but I'm only a little over half way through. Oops. Anyway, The Recruit really is good. Sets the scene for the rest of the Cherub books, introduces James as a very flawed hero, but likeable nevertheless. Maybe he's slightly stereotypical in the first book, but he definitely progresses to become a very real character. It's worth reading this one first, and then the others in whatever order, as it helps put the others into a context and helps them make more sense. James' recruitment, training, and first mission are covered here, and I don't want to say too much and spoil it, but the mission is a very clever one and with a nice culmination. There is consideration of moral issues, but only in very vague and broad terms, so don't read it for that. I didn't. Ir read it because I quite like kid spy books, and I reread it because it's a very good example of the genre and likeable even if you don't like other books in the genre so much because it's not a complete out and out spy novel, and it certainly is more believable than the Alex Rider books.

Since it probably won't go anywhere else

I had this idea, based half off a dream, half off a random thought I had after watching the news about the guy the police killed by accident. Don't reckon I'll ever finish it. If I do, well, a bit of it's on here to start off with.

Outside St Paul's Cathedral, Christmas Day 2028

A loud voice cut through the merry chatter, shouted words in an alien language. People looked. Armed police. The leader had his gun levelled, pointing at someone, finger on the trigger. Two bangs, close together, the lead policeman jerking up as a flash leapt from his muzzle, the bullet going high and wild.
A young man, Asian in appearance, nodded briefly to the officer behind the fallen one.
Explosion. Blinding white light, searing heat, screams.

Hospital of Lower London, 30th December 2028

The patient opened his eyes slowly. He blinked a couple of times. Bright, disorientating light, fuzzy people.
"Greetings hero," a gruff voice stated. "Nice to know you're still a serious injury stat and not another death."
The patient's eyes focussed, a gasp as memory crashed back into him, and with that awareness, pain. He tried to push himself up, but a nurse pinned him back down.
"Stay still sir. You're seriously injured. I'll fetch the..."
"How many?" the patient demanded, though his voice was hoarse and it pained him to gasp even those two words.
"Two-hundred-seventy-three dead at the last count. Close on another three hundred serious, maybe a thousand or so injured. You were lucky Thimba, very lucky."
Thimba paused for a second, breathing quickly and shallowly. He didn't dare breathe at all deeply--felt like he'd at least one or two ribs broken, maybe more.
"My team?"
The man sighed. "All the ones with you, except Mig, are dead. The ones who weren't, or presumably weren't, killed by the explosion have been shot through the head."
"Treacherous bastard," Thimba snarled weakly. He gathered his energy and pushed himself to a sitting position, biting his lip a little as pain shot out from his back and crashed in from his left cheek and most of the rest of his body, rippling about and holding discussions about the price of blood in various parts of himself. "He..."
"We guessed. I'm afraid he's out there somewhere, but we can't let that slip. The public's panicked enough as is. You're a hero. All over the papers how you tried to stop that suicider blowing, tried to shoot him, but were shot yourself.
"Lovely," Thimba muttered.

Olympia Horse Show

Wow, it was absolutely fantastic. Went down to London on the train, and saw the Friday afternoon bit. Started out with the young showjumper of the year thing, which was really good. Small dogs agility trials, and you should've seen the little tiny things leaping! Some of them were going twice as high as the jumps they were meant to go over. And the seesaw nearly wouldn't come down on them, because they were about the same weight as the counterweight was. It was the pairs relay, and I was a bit disappointed when one of the dogs who went round without any faults was let down by a partner that got twelve or something like that. Bit of a shame really, but it's a team effort. There was a Shetland Pony Grand National, which was really cute, and impressive. A flying Frenchman who rode with one foot on each of two horses and drove a team as well, going over jumps and round poles. There was another lot of showjumping, with thirteen (I think) going through to the jumpoff, which was really exciting because everyone kept topping each other. And then dancing horses to finish off, which was really neat.

Simpsons Movie

Ok, so I watched it twice in a row on the last day of college, and to be honest, I wasn't expecting much at all. I've never really liked the Simpsons, it's just dumb humour as far as I'm concerned, and not particularly funny either. Well, I have to say, I didn't find it mega hilarious, but I did really enjoy the film. So shoot me now, for betraying all my previous principles, but I guess I'd never bothered to see if they were well-founded or not. It was remarkably interesting. And I didn't mind seeing it twice in a row. The plot was ridiculous and unrealistic, but good unrealistic. After all, if you have yellow people running around, you can't expect it to be something deep and serious, can you? And I don't mind totally unrealistic, provided it's done well. There were moments that were quite amusing, the romance was quite nicely done, and of course Homer came back in the end and was pretty miserable at trying to save everyone, though there was a happy ending. It did brush on some deep issues, thinking about it, and came out with a bit of a moral. I was amused when the people from the pub and from the church raced past each other when the crisis started, because it seems in many ways an accurate reflection of the society we live in.

Dream involving Red

I really should have posted this earlier. I had a dream over the weekend, maybe Friday night I think, and it completely inspired me to write loads on the angel book I'm working on at the moment (provisionally titled To Touch Life, may change depending on whether what I originally thought would be a key idea remains a key idea). I was in PE at Wilfrids, in the sports hall, and there was this girl who had special needs, and we were playing ball for a while, then she had to leave. Then Red (he's one of the angels in my books, a captain) stood up, and this was so totally in character for him although I never really thought of it before, and said that people had been bullying her. He showed a clip of her all dressed up, with lovely curly blonde hair and the most gorgeous smile, explained that she had to have her hair cut short because she messed with it and tore at it too much, and that he wouldn't tolerate anybody bullying her. If they did, he'd come after them personally. He completely got everyone on her side, or at least, he got me on her side, and I felt so sorry for her. I might just have to stick a character like her in...

Maximum Security

It's the third Cherub book, and they're well worth a read. I suppose you'll get the most out of them if you read them in order, but I don't think it'll spoil things a whole lot if you don't. It's really good, although it's not my favourite in the series. The life for young offenders in Arizona Max is portrayed very realistically and well, the escape plan sounds like it might actually work, and the flaws that are introduced into the prison to make the escape possible are certainly believable ones. I admit, the idea of a teenage spying organisation, and Lauren's escapade in extreme cold at the start of the book does require a little suspension of disbelief, but the idea is created remarkably well, such that it really could be true, unlike Alex Rider which requires a lot more suspension of disbelief than this. One of the things I really like about the series is that you can actually see the characters growing up. In this one, James is a bit of a brat I have to admit, and he's a very well written character too. The only thing I will say is that the final capture at the end was a bit of an anti-climax and seemed almost an after thought with all that build up. However, Lauren's comments to James (her older brother) put things into context, and it did probably add to the realism of the book, even if it didn't add a whole lot of excitement value.

Celebration Evening

Well, I got my GCSE results certificates last night. What a silly little ceremony. I mean, why on earth did we have to stand up for those people to walk onto the stage? And that speaker. *Bangs head on wall in frustration* He completely did not know how to use a microphone, and I could hardly hear him most of the time. Wasn't the system, it was working just fine for everyone else. What he was saying was probably fairly ok, least, the bits I heard of it seemed that way, but he just didn't hold his audience well at all. Lots of pompous speeches, pretty much glorifying Wilfrids as the greatest place on the planet. Two head girls, which kind of amused me for a bit. Their speeches had so obviously been doctored though, and pre-approved. That annoyed me, because I know one of them is quite capable of delivering a decent speech, and I'm sure they both could've done much better if they hadn't been forced to read it out. Anyway. I got the results certificate, even if my chair didn't exist for a while, and I got two prizes, which I guess made it worth my while to go. I might never go there again, which is kind of weird seeing as I spent five years of my life going to that place. Still, everything changes, and it's not as though I don't love college.

St Wilfrid's Carol Service

Just to say, anyone who sang in that, it was really, really good. It sounded almost like a recording. I do have one criticism though... The Bible readings would've been much easier to follow, and much easier for those poor Year 7s to manage, if they'd been from the NIV, or even The Message (is that allowed in a C of E service!?), rather than the King James. And they didn't sing my favourites of The Shepherds Pie Carol... Sorry, [I]Pipe[/I] Carol... and Oh Come, Oh Come Emanuel. But I haven't heard either of them this year yet, apart from a really, really rubbish version of Oh Come Oh Come Emanuel on CD. But that doesn't count, because it was so pathetically bad.

Blurbs for Nutmeg Angel (not me, the book...)

Ok, so I'm getting my book up on Amazon soon, and I have to come up with a blurb. I have two, and I think I've decided which I'm using, but I'd appreciate some more input. So:

Blurb 1:
Nutmeg is determined to prove to all of heaven that she has what it takes to be a great warrior, despite her youth. However, the Devil is determined otherwise, as are other elements within the force itself. And when the whole city is plunged into chaos, the burden of responsibility falls heavily on the youngest member of the force and her team.

Blurb 2:
Angels are not all cute and sweet. In fact, some are pretty determined to do away with that sort of stereotype. Like Nutmeg. Fierce, tough, warrior through and through, she's determined that nothing will get in the way of doing her job. Not demons, not the perceptions of others, and not even the Devil himself.

Clubbing Together

All right, so it isn't really my kind of book, but I won a signed copy ages ago, and while I was tidying up my bookcases, because dad's just made me a new one and we're kind of rearranging my whole bedroom (well, feels like it) in order to fit in more book space since I have so many, I figured I might as well read it. And it was surprisingly good. I've read the first three of the books (it's an omnibus with the first four After School Club books by Helena Peliechaty (think that's how it's spelt)). Lots of brackets there. Never mind. Anyway. Surprisingly nice. Very well written, though definitely for younger children than me... Probably aimed more at 8-11 or so. Quite interesting and insightful, with very good characters. Maybe a little too happy endingy for my liking, but I'm not really the right age to get the most out of them I don't think. So maybe a good book for younger sisters. A nice quiet calm read, I'll certainly keep hold of it for when I can't sleep in hte middle of the night (James Patterson's books are not the best choice for middle of hte night reading, if they're any good to start with that is--they're of very variable quality. Jack Higgins and Alaistar McLean are a little long too...).

Jimmy Coates: Power

I realised all of a sudden why I love this series so much. It has lots of explosions, big action scenes, and yet it's pretty darn believable. Jimmy Coates is part machine, part human, intended to become an assassin for a Britain of the future where neo-democracy is a codename for dictatorship and the public is controlled through careful manipulation of the media and a common enemy of France. Jimmy is determined that he won't kill people. The government is now determined to kill him. Unfortunately, I missed out the book before, and so it kind of spoilt the plot of the previous one, while also making me desperately want to read it. Jimmy thinks he's dying in this book, and is desperate to try and restore true democary to England before his time runs out. I think this was originally intended to be a trilogy, but unlike Maximum Ride, the extension really works and I'm completely glad it was written. I met Joe Craig when I was at Wilfrids, he came in once, and I loved his talk. I have a signed copy of one of the books--the others I've got from the library. Well, I can't buy every single good book, much as I'd like to. Although the soon to hppen expansion of my book storage space should let me store a good few more. My dad reckons I've about a thousand or so. Gotta go say hello to my mum's cousins or something like that who've come round. See ya soon.

Moonraker and Goldfinger

I've been reading the James Bond books recently. I blame my English Lit teacher for listing one of them in the 'fifty books you should read' he gave us at the start of the year. They're surprisingly good. A little sexist, I have to admit, but so are most thrillers from that era. I've not seen the films, but I've heard they're very different. The books are good at any rate. I really enjoyed these two. A little too detailed in the card games at parts, making very little sense to me as I don't play cards, but the attention to detail is, I suppose, admirable. Maybe not my absolute favourite thrillers, but they're good enough that I'm determined to read the whole lot. I'd recomend them to anyone, but be aware that they can be a little too detailed in the 'lesser' aspects of the story, or at least, what I take to be lesser aspects of the story. I have to admit, I think the card game described in the Young Bond series (and so far as I've read up to--haven't yet got a copy of the newest one--there's only been one game described in much detail at all) was done much better. But times have changed, and I really don't follow card games or gambling at all.

The Keys of Hell

Another one in the Paul Chavasse series by Jack Higgins. And yes, as per the previous discussion, they really are by Jack Higgins, that's what it says on the spine. Very good. I've read it before, had half forgotten it. Realised once I started reading it though. A nice twist and betrayal, and plenty of decent action. A good thriller to read, if you like that sort of thing. If not, well, maybe don't bother. It's good, but if you hate thrillers and action, you're not that likely to like it I have to admit.

Sorry...

Ok, so I've been really bad about posting and updating and all that. I missed three days of college the week before last, had a fair bit of catching up to do. Not too much though, not compared to what I expected to get. Um... I've no excuse. Just been lazy really. Same with the distance learning course I'm supposed to be finishing by Christmas. Like that's going to happen now. I've a bunch of Christmas presents to make, cards to write, and I would like to actually finish the story I'm working on at some point. Plus I keep getting odd flashes of inspiration for the Nutmeg one I'm also working on. Hmm. I've read a fair bit too. And yeh. I'm lazy and haven't updated as much as I should have done. So sorry.

Rainbow

Your rainbow is strongly shaded violet.

What is says about you: You are a creative person. You appreciate beauty and craftsmanship. You are patient and will keep trying to understand something until you've mastered it.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.